john f. kennedy had come into office. helping to spur him and the nation to further action, civil rights leaders organized a march to intergrate equality in the south. they're called the freedom fighters. >> reporter: for too long in america segregation in the south was synonymous. but in the 1960s a new generation armed with a new supreme court decision prohibiting discrimination challenged the status quo in the south. >> this land is composed of two different cultures. a white culture and a colored culture and i've lived close to them all my life. but i'm told that we mistreated them and that we must change and these changes are coming faster than i expected. >> reporter: in the 50s, change wasn't just coming it had arrived. blacks were risking their homes, their jobs even their lives for freedom and equality for a taste of america's democracy. >> i was hit in the head with a wooden crate. knocked down, bloodied and i was going in and out of consciousness. i thought i was going to die. >> reporter: georgia congressman j